Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle in the following four pictures I got to know well. The first time was January first on a pole near the Merino Graveyard. The second time was on December seventh of that year. (I have since seen it 9-10-17, 4-15-18, 11-4-18.) Same pole. It overlooks a prairie dog town. Not only did it not flee, I got out of the car and talked to it. Though it tried to ignore me–very much like a cat–it was obviously used to people. It was banded with silver bracelets on each ankle. Having read that Colorado taggers use one red bracelet, I tried to discover, and failed, to learn who uses two silver bands. (I have one picture that suggest red on the inside of the left-leg band.) Eagles are not here today and gone tomorrow. A Bald Eagle killed by a car in the Northeast United States in 2018 was banded. It was 38 years old.

I once bragged to a birder that I had counted fifty-two Bald Eagles from one spot at North Sterling State Park. That birder told me that on that same day at the Prewitt Reservoir he had stopped counting at one hundred. They are no longer rare in these parts as they once were.

I am pretty sure that I saw this same bird the next Spring at North Sterling State Park.

Since the Bald Eagle has to wait five years for its head and tail to turn white, they can easily be mistaken for Golden Eagles. One clue here is that the feathers on the back of the neck and head are not golden.

The immature Bald Eagle has a scattered pattern of white feathers on its underside. (Compare to the ordered pattern on the immature Golden Eagle.)

This might be an advertisement for Old Thrasher Days in Yuma. The Case eagle was named Old Abe.